CACAO PRODUCTION AND SALE 103 



at the courage and energy that have triumphed over 

 such obstacles. Calculating from various estimates, 

 each labourer in the islands appears to produce about 

 1,640 pounds of cacao yearly, and the average yield 

 per cultivated acre is 480 pounds, or about 30 pounds 

 more than that of Trinidad in 1898. 



WAGON LOADS OF CACAO BEING TAKEN FROM MESSRS. 

 CADBURY'S DEPOT TO THE BEACH, ACCRA. 



As there is no available labour in San Thome, the 

 planters get their workers from the mainland of Africa. 

 Prior to the year 1908, the labour system of the islands 

 was responsible for grave abuses. This has now. been 

 changed. Natives from the Portuguese colonies of 

 Angola and Mozambique now enter freely into con- 

 tracts ranging from one to five years, two years being 

 the time generally chosen. At the end of their term of 

 work they either re-contract or return to their native 

 land with their savings, with which they generally buy 

 a wife. The readiness with which the natives volunteer 

 for the work on the islands is proof both of the sound- 

 ness of the system of contract and of the good treat- 

 ment they receive at the hands of the planters. 



